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<H1>Apache server Frequently Asked Questions</H1>

<H2>The Questions</H2>
<OL>
<LI><A HREF="#what">What is Apache ?</A>
<LI><A HREF="#why">Why was Apache created ?</A>
<LI><A HREF="#relate">How does the Apache group relate to other servers ?</A>
<LI><A HREF="#name">Why the name "Apache" ?</A>
<LI><A HREF="#compatible">How compatible is Apache with my existing NCSA 1.3 setup ?</A>
<LI><A HREF="#compare">OK, so how does Apache compare to other servers ?</A>
<LI><A HREF="#tested">How thoroughly tested is Apache?</A>
<LI><A HREF="#proxy">Does or will Apache act as a Proxy server?</A>
<LI><A HREF="#future">What are the future plans for Apache ?</A>
<LI><A HREF="#support">Who do I contact for support ?</A>
<LI><A HREF="#more">Is there any more information on Apache ?</A>
<LI><A HREF="#where">Where can get Apache ?</A>
</OL>

<HR>

<H2>The Answers</H2>
<OL>
<LI><A name="what">What is Apache ?</A>
<P>
    Apache was originally based on code and ideas found in the most
popular HTTP server of the time.. NCSA httpd 1.3 (early 1995). It has
since evolved into a far superior system which can rival (and probably
surpass) almost any other UNIX based HTTP server in terms of functionality,
efficiency and speed.
<p>Since it began, it has been completely rewritten, and includes many new
features. Apache is, as of November 1996, the most popular WWW server on
the Internet, according to the <a
href="http://www.netcraft.com/Survey/">Netcraft Survey</a>.

</P>
<HR>
<LI><A name="relate">How does the Apache group relate to other
server efforts, such as NCSA's?</A>
<P>
We, of course, owe a great debt to NCSA and their programmers for
making the server Apache was based on. We now, however, have our own
server, and our project is mostly our own. The Apache Project is an
entirely independent venture.
</P>
<HR>

<LI><A name="why">Why was Apache created ?</A>
<P>to address concerns of a group of www providers and part time httpd
programmers, that httpd didn't behave as they wanted it
to. Apache is an entirely volunteer effort, completely funded by its
members, not by commercial sales.
</P>

<HR>

<LI><A name="name">Why the name "Apache" ?</A>
<P>A cute name which stuck. Apache is "<B>A PA</B>t<B>CH</B>y server". It was
    based on some existing code and a series of "patch files".
</P>
<HR>


<LI><A name="compatible">How compatible is Apache with my existing NCSA 1.3
setup ?</A><P>

Apache attempts to offer all the features and configuration options
of NCSA httpd 1.3, as well as many of the additional features found in
NCSA httpd 1.4 and NCSA httpd 1.5.<P>

NCSA httpd appears to be moving toward adding experimental features 
which are not generally required at the moment. Some of the experiments
will succeed while others will inevitably be dropped. The Apache philosophy is
to add what's needed as and when it is needed.<p>

Friendly interaction between Apache and NCSA developers should ensure
that fundamental feature enhancments stay consistent between the two
servers for the foreseeable future.<p>

<HR>

<LI><A name="compare">OK, so how does Apache compare to other servers ?</A>
<P>
For an independent assessment, see <A HREF="http://webcompare.iworld.com/compare/chart.html">http://webcompare.iworld.com/compare/chart.html</A>
</P>

<P>Apache has been shown to be substantially faster than many other
free servers. Although certain commercial servers have claimed to
surpass Apache's speed (it has not been demonstrated that any of these
"benchmarks" are a good way of measuring WWW server speed at any
rate), we feel that it is better to have a mostly-fast free server
than an extremely-fast server that costs thousands of dollars. Apache
is run on sites that get millions of hits per day, and they have
experienced no performance difficulties.</p>

<HR>
<LI><A name="tested">How thoroughly tested is Apache?</A>

<p>Apache is run on over 200,000 Internet servers (as of November 1996). It has
been tested thoroughly by both developers and users. The Apache Group
maintains rigorous standards before releasing new versions of their
server, and our server runs without a hitch on over one third of all
WWW servers. When bugs do show up, we release patches and new
versions, as soon as they are available.</a>

<P>See <A HREF="http://www.apache.org/info/apache_users.html">http://www.apache.org/info/apache_users.html</A> for an incomplete list of sites running Apache.</P>

<hr>

<LI><A name="proxy">Does or will Apache act as a Proxy server?
<p>Apache version 1.1
and above comes with a proxy module. If compiled in, this will make
Apache act as a caching-proxy server
<p>
<HR>

<LI><A name="future">What are the future plans for Apache ?</A>
<P><UL>
<LI>to continue as a public domain HTTP server,
<LI>to keep up with advances in HTTP protocol and web developments in general
<LI>to collect suggestions for fixes/improvements from its users,
<LI>to respond to needs of large volume providers as well as occasional users.
</UL>
</P><HR>

<LI><A name="support">Who do I contact for support ?</A>
<P>There is no official support for Apache. None of the developers want to
be swamped by a flood of trivial questions that can be resolved elsewhere.
Bug reports and suggestions should be sent via <A HREF="http://www.apache.org/bug_report.html">the bug report page.</A> 
Other questions should be directed to
<A HREF="news:comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix">comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix</A>, where some of the Apache team lurk,
in the company of many other httpd gurus who should be able
to help.
<p>
Commercial support for Apache is, however, available from a number
third parties.
</p>
<HR>

<LI><A name="more">Is there any more information on Apache ?</A>
<P>Indeed there is. See <A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">http://www.apache.org/</A>.
</P>
<HR>

<LI><A name="where">Where can get Apache ?</A>
<P>
You can find the source for Apache at <A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">http://www.apache.org/</A>.
</P>
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